


sometimes the whole universe runs on irony

by sunset_oasis



Series: Rhythms of Love [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, and become a Hufflepuff muggleborn which is not exactly the highest in the Hogwarts food chain, he would've become the muggle version of Draco Malfoy but instead he came to Hogwarts, i mean his name was down for Eton before he came to Hogwarts, i think there's so much about him to explore, i've always found Justin interesting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-16 18:26:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10576983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunset_oasis/pseuds/sunset_oasis
Summary: Sometimes, it was hard not to sympathize with someone when they reminded you of yourself in some way.  Even if they didn’t treat you nicely.  Or perhaps it was precisely because their “not treating you nicely” the part that felt so relatable.Pansy Parkinson was not happy about getting partnered up with a 'mudblood' in charms class, but Justin Finch-Fletchley proved to be more surprising than she ever expected.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.  
> Written for hprarepairnet's get to know our members challenge

His life turned drastically at the age of eleven.

He’d grown up in a political family, his father was part of the Cabinet, and throughout his childhood many important players in British politics would come to visit.  His parents gave him the best of everything, his friends were the sons and daughters from other influential families, and he always knew he’d be going to Eton, he knew his name was down for it.  He never really knew a life outside of luxury and being at the very upper class of the society.

And then came the Hogwarts letter.

 

* * *

 

Magic was exciting, fascinating, and fun.  But what came with it was the cultural shock, the need to adapt for probably what was the very first time in his life, and the new, unknown people who didn’t acknowledge his family’s importance.  Well, his housemates were nice enough, but there were other students who openly expressed their thoughts on his muggle heritage.

It kind of struck him, in a moment of realization, how similar the muggle Britain and the magical one were in some aspects.  The social hierarchy was still there, but now he was on a different level of it.

Magic was eye-opening, not only in the aspect of the spells and all the creatures he’d never seen before, but also, the pureblood elitist culture that reminded him of a social structure he’d actually _seen_ before, but had never really given it too much thought.  You didn’t really need to give something much thought when you had the upper hand, always benefiting from that structure.

Oh yes, this whole new magical world was _definitely_ eye-opening for Justin Finch-Fletchley.

 

* * *

 

Hufflepuffs and Slytherins shared Charms together.  In the fourth year, when the dark-haired Slytherin girl got paired with him for a project – Pansy Parkinson, if Justin remembered her name correctly – she sneered in contempt and muttered something about “the bad luck of getting paired with a mudblood.”

He couldn’t really suppress his slight amusement at this – seriously, the magical world wasn’t that different with the muggle one, was it?  Underneath the fancy magical stuff, it was inherently the same.  At least in Britain.  It was, to be honest, really intriguing.

Justin would’ve chuckled if the long-timed instilled elegance from his childhood permitted himself to do it, but instead, he just raised an amused eyebrow at that.  He also had no idea at that he momentarily startled the girl with it and strongly reminded her of one of her friends who had mastered the art of expressing all kinds of subtle opinions through simple expressions such as this.

It would probably amuse him more if he’d known she’d just compared him to one of her Slytherin friends.

She narrowed her eyes at him, clearly not expecting his reaction.  He couldn’t really blame her, he knew he’d probably be surprised too in her position.  He could actually imagine himself being in the position, were he to ever encounter something like this back in the muggle world.

Sometimes, it was hard not to sympathize with someone when they reminded you of yourself in some way.  Even if they didn’t treat you nicely.  Or perhaps it was precisely _because_ their “not treating you nicely” the part that felt so relatable.

The universe did like its irony, didn’t it?  Well, luckily, as a Brit, so did he.

 

* * *

 

The Hufflepuff Mudblood annoyed her, but also kind of surprised her.  Pansy expected anger, or annoyance, or hurt, or a verbal attack back or at least clueless if he’d never heard of the word ‘mudblood’ or whatever, but definitely not an amused raised eyebrow above slightly analytical eyes as if he was studying her and just realized something interesting.  Salazar’s sake, she thought that kind of expression was something she could only see on _Blaise Zabini_.  Blaise had it down to an art. (Draco, on the other hand, preferred directing expressing contempt with words like she did.)

She was unwilling to admit it, but the truth was he _did_ intrigue her.  And then she noticed the expensive-looking watch he wore on his wrist – she didn’t recognize the brand or anything, probably muggle, but she couldn’t help but admire the elegant and intricate design. And then that pair of leather shoes of his – _stop it_ , she told herself firmly, trying to push the mudblood out of her mind. This wasn’t _normal_ of her, doing this.  But how was it possible that a mudblood could dress like this??

Whatever she might want, he continued to stay on her mind.

Annoying filthy mudblood who reacted so differently to her insults that she couldn’t _not_ think about him.

 

* * *

 

Pansy wasn’t sure how she managed to work with the mudblood for several weeks getting simultaneously irritated at him and more and more intrigued.  The mudblood even spoke with some trace of upper class tone sometimes, who would’ve expected _that_? And for some unknown reason, he didn’t seem to loathe her or other Slytherins like some of his friends did. She sometimes suspected that she was just as interesting to him as he was to her, but she didn’t know what exactly about herself that got him intrigued.

Then came the night of the Yule Ball.

Her date, aka very gay best friend Draco Malfoy, already somehow got himself involved in an argument with Potter, an argument which mysteriously landed them two directly under the mistletoe.

Pansy rolled her eyes at the pair of them now snogging fiercely, and when she turned in another direction she found herself facing her Charms partner. Justin Finch-Fletchley was dressed in one of stunningly handsome-looking dress robes that she’d seen in the latest fashion magazine when she and Draco were trying to pick what they planned to wear to the ball.  She remembered the price-tag.  A few weeks ago she’d be surprised at how he, a mudblood, could’ve afforded that, but now she was gradually getting used to his unusualness.

 

* * *

 

“You look nice, Miss Parkinson,” Justin saw the Parkinson girl studying his dress robes and greeted her with a charming grin easily, the way he’d greet the guests at the family balls his father always hosted.  It was generally practiced and something a force of habit, but he did genuinely think of her as pretty.  Besides (unwittingly) enlightening him on how alike the muggle world and the wizarding world could be, he did like her sleek dark hair that curled up slightly just above the shoulders and her sharp black eyes.

She glared at him, as if unsure what to do with a compliment from someone like him, and he smirked a little at that.  Then she said, a little grudgingly, (probably didn’t want to be seen having worse manners than a muggleborn), “Nice robes.  Fits you.”

Well, look at how far they’d come – from calling him names and grumbling about the bad luck of getting paired with him to compliments. “Thank you,” he said, graciously. “I ordered it from Twilfitt and Tatting’s after seeing it in the fashion magazine.”

“I didn’t know hufflepuffs read those,” she sneered slightly, but not with the hostility she’d used when they first partnered in class. “Judging by the way you lot dress.”

“I didn’t know the sorting hat used this as a deciding factor,” he countered smoothly, “but I guess you know the wizarding world better than I do.”

She stared at him, and then laughed. “You’re always a surprise, Finch-Fletchley.”

He laughed too, then shrugged easily. “My parents always raised me to dress nicely and keep up with the latest fashion and all that.  And I didn’t really change my way of doing things after coming to the wizarding world.”  Then he looked her straight into the eyes, “While the blood didn’t matter, the upbringing does affect a person in some way sometimes. Don’t you agree?”

 

* * *

 

Pansy narrowed her eyes at him, feeling the question was more calculated then it looked on the surface.  She wanted to tell him that blood mattered, that even a blood-traitor like Weasley was cleaner than his blood, but she wasn’t so sure anymore.

He didn’t wait for her response as he continued, “And while upbringing does have its effects, it doesn’t necessarily make you superior or inferior either.”

She decided to just dodge the question, this was too much for her to contemplate on a Yule Ball.  She was supposed to be enjoying herself, not solving complicated conscience issues or whatever.  (Still, in some way, she _was_ enjoying all this.  He was intriguing and interesting company to chat with, she had to admit.)

“How alike, are the muggle world and wizarding world _exactly_?” She finally asked.

He seemed amused by the question, and grinned at her, “Interesting you should ask … did you know you and your house were the ones to get me pondering the _exact same question_ after I arrived at Hogwarts?”

She snorted, “Ah, the irony.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. Then he glanced at her dress again, and surprised her with his offer, “I could take you shopping in the muggle London during the Christmas holidays if you’d like to experience it.  I have a feeling you’ll like Harrods.”

She frowned at him, while she was tempted by the offer because she already sort of got the idea that he came from a quite rich muggle family, she couldn’t really imagine herself shopping at muggle London.   _Muggle London_.  Just – the _disgrace_.  She could imagine her parents’ reaction if they ever found out …

“What makes you think I’ll be _interested_?” Pansy asked haughtily, crossing hands across her chest.

He wasn’t intimidated by her attitude, nor annoyed.  She had to give him credit for that.  Hufflepuff mudblood he might be, Justin Finch-Fletchley didn’t lack social grace.  He smiled at her, and at that moment she found his smile more charming than any of her housemates’ had ever been. “I don’t know, and I’m honestly also surprised you’re interested in spending your Yule Ball with a muggleborn chatting about the difference of the muggle world and wizarding world, instead of dancing with a fellow pureblood.”

“I _should_ be doing that,” she muttered.

“Well, I’m certainly not stopping you from leaving,” he shrugged again, with that elegant grace that made her wondered yet again how a hufflepuff mudblood could manage it.

Pansy glared at him, knowing that he was right.  Then she made the decision she _really_ hoped she wouldn’t regret.  She tried her best intimidating glare on him and said, “The shopping trip better not disappoint.”

He smiled, with the confidence that she’d beginning to find annoying on Draco or Blaise presumably because she was tired by the excessive amount of it, but she realized that she liked this air of confidence on Justin Finch-Fletchley for some reason. “It won’t,” he said, then extended an arm at her, “Since I already occupy so many of your time discussing serious topics such as culture differences … might I offer you a dance as compensation?”

A part of her of wanted to say no, but she’d already agreed on going shopping with him in muggle London that this probably couldn’t hurt.  Plus, he did look nice in that robes of his, nice and elegant as if he’d been raised as a Malfoy or a Black.  Also, her original date was probably already shagging The Boy Who Lived in some dark broom closet by now.  Ah well … “I guess so,” she finally said and took his arm.

 

* * *

 

She admitted she deliberately danced way too quickly, just to see if he could keep up with her.  She wasn’t really surprised – she was now well passed the stage where she’d be easily surprised by Justin Finch-Fletchley – but she was still impressed when he did. Merlin, he was a good dancer. Probably another of the upbringing thing he mentioned.

When she somehow accidentally steered him too quickly and landing them under the mistletoe, she found herself more … excited than panicking.  Who would’ve thought that?  If someone had told her earlier this semester that she’d come to enjoy a non-pureblood’s presence so much and even anticipating kissing him under the mistletoe, she’d likely laughed in their face.

But now, here she was.  Fate did love making people contradicting their past selves, didn’t she?  Without much hesitation, she kissed him.  It tasted as nice as he looked in his handsome robes.

As they slowly broke apart, he whispered, “Don’t forget, muggle London shopping during the holidays.”

“Of course,” she whispered back, “don’t disappoint me.”

It was a _date_.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr: ff-sunset-oasis.tumblr.com


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